Operating electronic components or devices produce heat. This heat should be removed from the devices in order to maintain device junction temperatures within desirable limits, with failure to remove produced heat resulting in increased device temperature, potentially leading to thermal runaway conditions. Several trends in the electronics industry have combined to increase the importance of thermal management, including heat removal from electronic components, including technologies where thermal management has traditionally been less of a concern, such as CMOS. In particular, the need for faster and more densely packed circuits has had a direct impact on the importance of thermal management. For example, power dissipation, and therefore heat production, increases as device operating frequencies increase. Also, increased operating frequencies may be possible at lower device junction temperatures. In addition, as more and more devices are packed onto a single chip, power density (Watts/cm2) increases, resulting in the need to remove more heat from a given size chip or module.
Existing cooling technologies typically utilize air or water to carry heat away from an electronic component, and reject the heat. Heat sinks with heat pipes or vapor chambers are commonly used in air-cooled devices, while cold plates are most prominent in water-cooled structures. However, with both types of cooling assemblies, it is necessary to attach the cooling assembly to the heat-generating electronic component or device. This attachment results in a thermal interface resistance between the cooling structure or assembly and the electronic component. One aspect limiting the capability to cool a given electronic component is the thermal interface between the component to be cooled and the cooling structure.